Method of and machine for producing a tobacco rod



w. RICHTER 3,

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR PRODUCING A TOBACCO ROD March 11, 1969 Sheetof 2 Filed May 16, 1961 Fig. 2 35 March 11, 1969 w. RICHTER 3,431,914

won OF AND MACHINE FOR PRODUCING A TOBACCO ROD Sheet 3 of2 Filed May 16,1961 United States Patent 3,431,914 METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR PRODUCINGA TOBACCO ROD Willy Richter, Hamhurg-Bergedorf, Germany, assignor t0Hauni-Werke Ktirher & Co. K.G., Hamburg-Bergedorf,

Germany Filed May 16, 1961, Ser. No. 110,561

Claims priority, application Germany, May 19, 1960 H 39,474 US. Cl.131-21 18 Claims Int. Cl. A24c /39, 5/18 The present invention relatesto cigarette and cigar manufacture in general, and more particularly toa method of and to a machine for producing a tobacco rod of constantcross section which may assume the form of a cigarette rod or cigar rod.

In the production of a cigarette or cigar rod, certain difficulties areencountered insofar as the production of cigarettes or cigars ofconstant uniform weight concerned. According to the present invention,the desired result is obtained in that excess tobacco removed from atobacco stream as a result of equalization or trimming is collected, andthat removal of collected excess tobacco which is to be returned to thenon-equalized tobacco stream is effected in accordance with the resultof a measurement performed by a test device which measures the tobaccostream or rod. In this manner provision can be made so that the tobaccoremoved during the equalizing or trimming operation can be collected andstored and the amount stored can be examined and the result of theexamination can be used for controlling the tobacco distributor.

It is an object of the invention to provide a machine for carrying outthe above method.

The method of my invention comprises the steps of forming a continuoustobacco stream which contains tobacco in excess of that required in thetobacco rod, trimming the surface of the tobacco stream, forming asupply of excess tobacco by collecting excess tobacco removed from saidtobacco stream in a container or a similar storing device, withdrawingtobacco from the supply and returning it to the tobacco stream at apoint located in advance of the point where the trimming operation isperformed, and regulating the amount of tobacco withdrawn from thesupply in accordance with the results of measurements performed by atest device operative upon the continuous tobacco stream or tobacco rodat any selected point of its movement.

The quantity of tobacco in the container is measured by a control deviceand this control device adjusts the customary distributor which deliversthe bulk of tobacco into the path of the tobacco stream.

In the drawing which illustrates five embodiments of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a partly elevational and partly sectional view of a cigaretterod machine which comprises a low-level tobacco distributor and a feedwheel rotating about a horizontal axis in a vertical plane, and in whichthe transfer conveyor means for the trimmed-off tobacco includes apneumatic pipeline;

FIG. 2 is a larger-scale transverse vertical section through acollecting container with the discharge and control device, the sectionbeing taken along the line A-B of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partly elevational and partly sectional view of a similarcigarette rod machine in which the transfer conveyor means comprises aspiked belt;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary end view of the cigarette rod machine as seen inthe direction of the arrow C in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partly elevational and partly sectional view of a thirdcigarette rod machine wherein the transfer conveyor means assumes theform of a spiked wheel;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a detail of the collectingfunnel which is enclosed in FIG. 5 by a rectangle;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged transverse section as seen in the direction ofarrows from the line D-E of FIG. 5,

FIG. 8 is a partly elevational and partly sectional view of a fourthcigarette rod machine; and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view of a fifth cigarette rod machine.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a cigarette rod machine including a firstconveyorin the form of a feed Wheel 8 which rotates in a vertical plane,an endless horizontal tobacco conveyor belt 7, a trimming or equalizingdevice 10 adjacent the upper portion of the feed wheel 8, and a thirdconveyor here shown as an endless forming belt 11 which supports acigarette paper strip 20 and the tobacco stream thereon when the latteris discharged from the upper portion of the feed wheel 8 and then passesthrough the rod-forming mechanism 12. The periphery of the feed wheel 8is provided with a perforated bottom wall to form a suction groove 9which communicates with a stationary suction chamber 13 arranged withinthe feed wheel 8. A stationary compressed air chamber 14 is provided toassist the discharge of the tobacco rod 6 from the groove 9 for transferonto the paper strip 20. A tobacco shower 15 discharged by an adjustabletobacco distributor 1 is supplied to the upper stretch of the tobaccoconveyor belt 7.

A tobacco filler stream 2 formed on the tobacco conveyor belt 7 isconveyed to the lower portion of the feed wheel 8 and is pressed intoits groove 9 wherein it is held b suction. Any outwardly projectingparticles of excess tobacco are trimmed off by the trimming device 10which operates in a predetermined trimming plane and the remainingtobacco stream, now having a uniform cross section throughout, is passedonward and transferred to the cigarette paper strip 20 which is thendrawn through the rod-forming mechanism 12 by the forming belt 11.

Excess tobacco removed by the trimming device 10 is conveyed into astoring device here shown as a funnellike container 16 which isconnected with a pneumatic pipeline 17. Such excess tobacco is collectedin this container 16 and is delivered from the latter by the pipeline 17and by means of a delivery feed member 18 arranged at right angles tothe tobacco stream to be equalized and thence by a nozzle 19 into theempty portion of the groove 9 before the tobacco stream 2 is pressedinto the same in the lower portion of the wheel 8.

The trimmed off excess tobacco thus enters the groove 9 for the secondtime and, during its second passage through the trimming zone, suchexcess tobacco is distant from the trimming device 10 so that it mustform part of the tobacco rod 6 and of the cigarette rod. In this mannerthere is little danger that any particles of tobacco will remaincontinuously in the trimming path.

In accordance with the present invention the container 16 is dividedinto two adjacent vertical sections and an adjustable transfer memberhere shown as an elevator conveyor 31 is provided in that section of thecontainer 16 which supplies excess tobacco to the inlet nozzle of thepneumatic pipeline 17. An adjustable motor 32 drives the adjustabletobacco elevator 31 in accordance with the measurement of the tobaccostream carried out by a test device 33 located at the outlet of thecigarette rod forming mechanism 12. The test device 33 may be mountedadjacent to the tobacco conveyor belt 7 as indicated in dotted lines at34 in FIG. 1. The parts 1, 16, 17, 18, 31 together form a device forproducing a tobacco stream containing tobacco in excess of that requiredin the to- 3 bacco rod 6, and the parts 17, 18, 31 together form atransfer device for delivering tobacco from the storing device 16 intothe path of the tobacco stream.

In order to maintain the tobacco supply approximately constant, acontrol means here shown as a photo-electric test device 28 (FIG. 1) isprovided in the region of apertures 35, 36 provided in the walls 37, 38of one section of the collecting container 16. The photo-electric testdevice 28 comprises a photoelectric cell 39 and a light source 40 (FIG.2) and this device measures the quantity of tobacco in the left handsection of the collecting funnel 16 in a well known manner in order tocontrol the adjustable tobacco distributor 1 in accordance with themeasured result.

The collecting container 16 is divided into two sections by the verticalwall 38 and forms two compartments, the left hand compartment 3 servingas a storage vessel wherein the level of tobacco rises or fallsdepending on the amount of excess tobacco received from the trimmingdevice. Tobacco is removed from the bottom portion of this compartment 3by means of the elevator 31 and is delivered to the pneumatic pipeline17 under the control of the test device 33. If, however, too muchtobacco is collected in the compartment 3, the light beam between thesource 40 and the photo-electric cell 39 is obstructed whereby thecontrol device causes the tobacco distributor 1 to reduce the amount oftobacco delivered to the belt 7.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 the parts corresponding tothose shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.However, .the suction chamber 26 within the feed wheel 8 extends along asubstantially smaller circumferential portion of this feed wheel, asindicated by the dotted radial lines 26 and 26", namely, from the pointwhere the tobacco stream is received from the conveyor belt 7 and up tothe delivery point at the top of the feed wheel where the tobacco rod isremoved and passes toward the cigarette paper strip and the forming belt11. Below the trimming device 10 there is provided a collecting funnel27 into which the excess tobacco is discharged and accumulated to apredetermined level. The collecting container 27 extends laterally awayfrom the plane of the feed wheel as shown in FIG. 4 and a modifiedmember in the form of a spiked conveyor belt 29 is provided beneath thedelivery end thereof to receive a uniform tobacco layer 2a from thesupply of excess tobacco accumulated in the collecting container 27.This layer tobacco 2a is then showered onto the tobacco stream 2 to beequalized by means of a combing roller 30.

The control of the amount of tobacco in the collecting container 27 andthe control of the spiked belt 29 are effected in the same way as inFIG. 2 as applied to the collecting container 16 and the elevatorconveyor 31.

The embodiment of FIGS. to 7 differs from those shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 inthat a wheel 21 having a circumferential groove 22 with a spiked bottomwall is arranged adjacent and concentrically with the feed wheel 8. Thegroove 22 receives excess tobacco removed from the collecting container23 as a result of the trimming operation. To remove the tobacco from thespiked bottom wall in the groove 22 of the wheel 21, a beater roller 24is provided and is operative in the groove 22 and a guide duct 25 isprovided beneath the beater roller 24 for conducting excess tobacco tothe surface of the tobacco stream 2 on the conveyor belt 7. The level ofthe supply of tobacco in the collecting container 23 is measured by aphotoelectric control device 28 in the same way as in the machine ofFIGS. 1 and 2.

In order to insure that the quantity of tobacco Withdrawn from thecollecting container 23 remains constant, a beater roller 41 engages thespikes on the bottom wall of the groove 22 as shown in FIG. 6 and combsoff tobacco above the desired level.

FIG. 7 shows the details of construction of the collecting container 23as well as the control device which comprises a light source and aphoto-electric cell 39. The guide wall 42 is shown on a larger scale inFIG. 6 and is interrupted beneath the beater wheel 41 and is continuedin the form of a guide wall 43.

Excess tobacco removed by the trimming device 10 drops into thecollecting container 23 and is withdrawn therefrom by means of thespiked bottom wall in the groove 22. The rotation of the spiked wheel 21is controlled by means of a test device in the same way as that of thespiked belt 29 (FIGS. 3 and 4) or the elevator conveyor 31 (FIGS. 1 and2).

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate similar parts of two cigarette rod machines ofthe straight-line tobacco stream or rod forming type. Referringparticularly to FIG. 8, the adjustable tobacco distributor 1 supplies atobacco shower 15 onto the endless horizontal conveyor belt 7 to formthereon a tobacco stream 2 which is equalized by the trimming device 10.A pneumatic pipeline 44 serves as a conveyor for excess tobacco trimmedotf by the device 10, this pipeline terminating in a receiving member 45having a hopper 46 arranged above the supply container 47, the latterbeing associated with a small elevator conveyor 48. A photo-electriccontrol or detecting device 28 is provided in the supply container 47.The discharge end of the elevator conveyor 48 is located above theforward end portion of the tobacco conveyor belt 7 which in this caseextends rearwardly of the distributor 1 a slight distance. The elevatorconveyor 48 is driven by a variable speed motor 49 to operate in thesame way as the elevating conveyor 31 of FIG. 1.

Excess tobacco removed from the tobacco stream 2 during the equalizingstep is sucked up by the entry nozzle 50 of the pneumatic pipeline 44and is conveyed into the receiving member 45 to descend through thehopper 46 into the supply container 47 containing the elevator 48.Excess tobacco is spread on the tobacco conveyor belt 7 by the dischargeend of the elevator 48. Then the tobacco showered by the distributor 1drops onto the tobacco conveyor belt 7 which carries a minor quantity ofexcess tobacco supplied by the elevator 48. The speed of the spiked beltof the elevator 48 is controlled by a test device similar to the device33 of FIG. 1.

It is not absolutely necessary that the conveyor belt 7 extendrearwardly of the distributor 1. Excess tobacco collected as a result ofthe trimming operation can also be introduced into the tobacco shower 15as shown in FIG. 9. The point of introduction would then lie at theforward end of the distributor approximately as indicated by the arrow Fin FIG. 8.

FIG. 9 shows the tobacco distributor 1 in section; it comprises a chute51 into which a tobacco feeder drum 52 projects. The drum 52 cooperateswith a beater roller 53. The horizontal conveyor belt 7 travels beneaththe lower end of the chute 51. The device for introducing excess tobaccocollected during the trimming operation is similar to that shown in FIG.8. It consists of a supply container 54, a spiked elevator belt 55, avariable speed motor 56, a photo-electric control or detecting device 28for measuring the level of the supply of excess tobacco in the container54 and a beater roller 57 for removing tobacco from the spiked belt andfor showering such tobacco through a duct 59 in the side wall of thechute 51. The collecting container receives excess tobacco from adischarge funnel 58 which in turn is supplied with tobacco.

by a cell wheel feeder or other equivalent means corresponding to thatshown in FIG. 8 at 45.

The tobacco supplied to the container 54 is withdrawn by the spiked belt55 and the tobacco removed from the latter by the beater roller 57 isdischarged into the chute 51 through the duct 59 to descend onto theconveyor belt 7 together with the main part of the tobacco shower 15.Since the device shown in FIG. 9 is located at the point P in FIG. 8, itwill be understood that excess tobacco supplied by the duct 59 will formthe lower part of the tobacco stream on the belt 7 and will not beremoved later by the trimming device 10.

The test device 33 may be a C4 Accuracy Cigarettes Gage Controller asmanufactured by Industrial Nucleonics Corp., Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A., orany similar type of test device comprising a power source for producinga light beam, i.e., Strontium 90, received by an ionization chamber formeasuring, the ionization chamber transmitting the measured result to anamplifier, the latter operating an integrator which controls a relayarranged to adjust the transfer device.

What I claim is:

1. A machine for producing a tobacco rod of constant cross section,comprising stream producing means arranged to form a tobacco streamwhich contains tobacco in excess of that required in the tobacco rod;conveyor means arranged to advance the tobacco stream and the tobaccorod in an elongated path; trimming means adjacent to said path andarranged to enter a portion of said tobacco stream and to remove excesstobacco from the stream so as to produce a tobacco rod of constant crosssection, said stream producing means comprising storing means arrangedto receive excess tobacco from said trimming means and adjustabletransfer means for delivering tobacco from said storing means into saidpath at a point ahead of said trimming means; a test device arranged tomeasure the quantity of tobacco in said path; and means for adjustingsaid transfer means in accordance with the results measured by said testdevice.

2. A machine for producing a tobacco rod of constant cross section,comprising stream producing means arranged to form a tobacco streamwhich contains tobacco in excess of that required in the tobacco rod;conveyor means arranged to advance the tobacco stream and the tobaccorod in an elongated path; trimming means adjacent to said path andarranged to enter a portion of said tobacco stream and to remove excesstobacco from the stream so as to produce a tobacco rod of constant crosssection, said stream producing means comprising an adjustabledistributor arranged to deliver a shower of tobacco to said conveyormeans at a point ahead of said trimming means, storing means arranged toreceive excess tobacco from said trimming means and adjustable transfermeans for delivering tobacco from said storing means into said path at apoint ahead of said trimming means; control means arranged to measurethe quantity of excess tobacco in said storing means and to adjust saiddistributor so that the distributor delivers less tobacco when thequantity of excess tobacco in said storing means exceeds a predeterminedvalue; a test device arranged to measure the quantity of tobacco in saidpath; and means for adjusting said transfer means in accordance with theresults measured by said test device.

3. A machine for producing a tobacco rod of constant cross section,comprising stream producing means arranged to form a tobacco streamwhich contains to bacco in excess of that required in the tobacco rod;conveyor means arranged to advance the tobacco stream and the tobaccorod in an elongated path; trimming means adjacent to said path andarranged to enter a portion of said tobacco stream and to remove excesstobacco from the stream so as to produce a tobacco rod of constant crosssection, said stream producing means comprising storing means arrangedto receive excess tobacco from said trimming means and adjustabletransfer means for delivering tobacco from said storing means into saidpath at a point ahead of said trimming means and in such a way thattobacco which is being added at said point bypasses said trimming means;a test device arranged to measure the quantity of tobacco in said path;and means for adjusting said transfer means in accordance with theresults measured by said test device.

4. A machine for producing a tobacco rod of constant cross section,comprising stream producing means arranged to form a tobacco streamwhich contains tobacco in excess of that required in the tobacco rod;conveyor means arranged to advance the tobacco stream and the tobaccorod in an elongated path; trimmingmeans adjacent to said path andarranged to enter a portion of said tobacco stream and to remove excesstobacco from the stream so as to produce a tobacco rod of constant crosssection, said stream producing means comprising an adjustabledistributor arranged to deliver a shower of tobacco to said conveyormeans at a point ahead of said trimming means, storing means arranged toreceive excess tobacco from said trimming means and transfer means fordelivering tobacco from said storing means into said path at a pointahead of said trimming means; and control means arranged to measure thequantity of excess tobacco in said storing means and to adjust saiddistributor in accordance with the measured result so that thedistributor delivers less tobacco when the quantity of excess tobacco insaid storing means exceeds a predetermined value.

5. In a machine for producing a tobacco rod of constant cross section,in combination, conveyor means arranged to advance in an elongated patha continuous tobacco stream 'which contains tobacco in excess of thatrequired in the tobacco rod, trimming means adjacent to said path andarranged to enter a portion of said tobacco stream and to remove excesstobacco from the stream so as to form a tobacco rod of constant crosssection; storing means arranged to receive excess tobacco from saidtrimming means; adjustable transfer means arranged to remove tobaccofrom said storing means; a test device adjacent to and arranged tomeasure the quantity of tobacco in said path; and means for adjustingsaid transfer means in accordance with the result measured by said testdevice.

6. A machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said conveyor meanscomprises a rotary feed wheel having a circumferential suction groovedefining a portion of said elongated path for the tobacco stream andwherein said transfer means comprises a second rotary wheel adjacent toand concentric with said feed wheel, said second wheel having acircumferential groove provided with a spiked bottom wall arranged todeliver tobacco from said storing means toward said point of the path.

7. A machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said stream producingmeans comprises a tobacco distributor having-a first portion arranged todeliver a continuous stream of tobacco into said path at a point betweensaid first mentioned point and said trimming means and a second portionlocated at said first mentioned point, said transfer means beingarranged to deliver excess tobacco to said second portion of thedistributor so that tobacco delivered by said transfer means is coveredby tobacco showered by the first portion of said distributor.

8. A machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said test device islocated past said trimming means as seen in the direction of advance oftobacco in said path so that said test device measures the tobacco rod.

9. A machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said test device islocated ahead of said trimming means as seen in the direction of advanceof tobacco in said path so that said test device measures the tobaccostream.

10. A method of producing a tobacco rod of constant cross section,comprising the steps of producing a tobacco stream which containstobacco in excess of that required in the tobacco rod and advancing thetobacco stream in an elongated path; trimming the tobacco stream at afirst point of said path by trimming means entering a portion of saidtobacco stream and removing excess tobacco therefrom whereby the streamis transformed into a tobacco rod of constant cross section; forming asupply of stored tobacco by collecting excess tobacco which is removedfrom the tobacco stream; measuring the quantity of tobacco in said path;and delivering excess tobacco from said supply to a second point of saidpath at a rate proportional with the measured result, said second pointof the path being located past said first point as seen in the directionin which tobacco advances in said path so that excess tobacco deliveredinto said path forms part of the tobacco stream which contains tobaccoin excess of that required in the tobacco rod.

11. A method of producing a tobacco rod of constant cross section,comprising the steps of producing a tobacco stream which containstobacco in excess of that required in the tobacco rod partially byshowering tobacco into an elongated path and thereupon advancing thethus formed tobacco stream endwise in said path; trimming the tobaccostream at a first point of said path by trimming means entering aportion of said tobacco stream and removing excess tobacco therefromwhereby the stream is transformed into a tobacco rod of constant crosssection; forming a supply of stored tobacco by collecting excess tobaccowhich is removed from the tobacco stream; measuring the quantity oftobacco in said supply of stored tobacco and adjusting the rate at whichtobacco is being showered into said path in accordance With the measuredresult; measuring the quantity of tobacco in said path; and deliveringexcess tobacco from said supply to a second point of said path at a rateproportional with the result of said last mentioned measurement, saidsecond point of the path being located past said first point as seen inthe direction in which tobacco advances in said path so that excesstobacco delivered into said path forms part of the tobacco stream whichcontains tobacco in excess of that required in the tobacco rod.

12. A method of producing a tobacco rod of constant cross section,comprising the steps of producing a tobacco stream which containstobacco in excess of that required in the tobacco rod partially byshowering tobacco into an elongated path and thereupon advancing theresulting tobacco stream along said path; trimming the tobacco stream ata first point of said path by trimming means entering a portion of saidtobacco stream and removing excess tobacco therefrom whereby the streamis transformed into a tobacco rod of constant cross section; forming asupply of stored tobacco by collecting excess tobacco which is removedfrom the tobacco stream; delivering excess tobacco from said supply to asecond point of said path which is located past said first point as seenin the direction in which tobacco advances in said path so that excesstobacco delivered from said supply forms part of the tobacco streamwhich contains tobacco in excess of that required in the tobacco rod;measuring the quantity of tobacco in said supply; and adjusting the rateat which tobacco is being showered into said path in accordance with themeasured result.

13. In the method of making a continuous cigarette rod, the steps offorming a first stream of shredded tobacco in excess of that requiredfor a cigarette rod, forming a second stream by overturning the firststream, stripping the excess tobacco from the second stream to leave athird stream passable to a rod former, storing the stripped tobacco,metering the stored tobacco, and delivering it to the surface of thefirst stream to improve its uniformity.

14. The method according to claim 13 which includes variably meteringthe stripped tobacco to the first stream responsive to detection of theuniformity of the first stream.

15. In a continuous cigarette rod making apparatus, a first conveyor,means for showering an excess of shredded tobacco as a first stream ontosaid first conveyor, a second conveyor, means for forming the firststream into a second stream on said second conveyor, said second streamhaving as its top the bottom of the first stream, continuous tobaccostripping means adjacent said conveyor to leave a finished streamconveyable to a rod former, and means for storing excess tobaccostripped from said first stream, said storing means including acommodious supply chute for the excess tobacco, tobacco metering meansin the outlet of said chute and adjacent the first conveyor, themetering means unsnarling the tobacco and depositing same at adetermined rate of supply on the stream on the first conveyor, to tendto smoothen the hills and dales in said first stream.

16. In apparatus according to claim 15, a detector for continuouslymeasuring the density of the first tobacco stream before the tobaccodischarge and redistribution from the chute, and means responsive to thedetector for varying the speed of the tobacco discharge andredistribution means in the chute.

17. In apparatus for the manufacture of a continuous cigarette rod, afirst conveyor, means for continuously showering an excess of tobaccoabove that employed in forming a cigarette rod on said first conveyor toform a first tobacco stream, a second conveyor in the form of a suctiondrum adjacent to the downstream portion of the first conveyor andadapted to remove the first stream and to form a second stream in whichthe bottom and top surfaces have been reversed from their relationshipin said first stream, trimming means adjacent said drum and adapted tocontinuously trim the second stream to remove said excess therefrom,means to convey the tobacco remaining in said second stream after saidtrimming to a cigarette rod making means, a storage and supply chute,between said trimming means and the surface of said first tobaccostream, adapted to store the trimmed excess tobacco, tobacco dischargeand redistribution means at the outlet of the chute, said tobaccodischarge and redistribution means arranged for delivering a selectedquantity of trimmed tobacco at a predetermined rate to the first tobaccostream, to tend to make the thickness of the lateral cross-section ofsaid second stream greater than required at all points along the lengthof said second stream prior to said trimming.

18. In apparatus according to claim 17, continuous density measuringmeans upstream from the chute outlet to the first stream, and meansresponsive to said density measuring means for continuously varying therate of delivery from the tobacco discharge and redistribution means ofthe chute.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,660,177 11/1953 Rault 131-84 X2,769,466 11/1956 Dan-k 131-21 X 2,932,300 4/1960 Dearsley 131--11O2,938,521 5/1960 Lanore 13121 3,059,650 10/ 1962 Garnbrini 13184 X3,089,497 5/1963 Molins et a1 13121 3,113,576 12/1963 Bell 131--213,132,650 5/1964 Richter 13184 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,179,992 12/1958France.

240,574 11/ 1911 Germany.

854,736 11/ 1960 Great Britain.

JOSEPH S. REICH, Primary Examiner.

S. KOREN, Assistant Examiner.

1. A MACHINE FOR PRODUCING A TOBACCO ROD OF CONSTANT CROSS SECTION,COMPRISING STREAM PRODUCING MEANS ARRANGED TO FORM A TOBACCO STREAMWHICH CONTAINS TOBACCO IN EXCESS OF THAT REQUIRED IN THE TOBACCO ROD;CONVEYOR MEANS ARRANGED TO ADVANCE THE TOBACCO STREAM AND THE TOBACCOROD IN AN ELONGATED PATH; TRIMMING MEANS ADJACENT TO SAID PATH ANDARRANGED TO ENTER A PORTION OF SAID TOBACCO STREAM AND TO REMOVE EXCESSTOBACCO FROM THE STREAM SO AS TO PRODUCE A TOBACCO ROD OF CONSTANT CROSSSECTION, SAID STREAM PRODUCING MEANS COMPRISING STORING MEANS ARRANGEDTO RECEIVE EXCESS TOBACCO FROM SAID TRIMMING MEANS AND ADJUSTABLETRANSFER MEANS FOR DELIVERING TOBACCO FROM SAID STORING MEANS INTO SAIDPATH AT A POINT AHEAD OF SAID TRIMMING MEANS; A TEST DEVICE ARRANGED TOMEASURE THE QUANTITY OF TOBACCO IN SAID PATH; AND MEANS FOR ADJUSTINGSAID TRANSFER MEANS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RESULTS MEASURED BY SAID TESTDEVICE.